Swaramurthy Venkata Narayana Rao represents the best of Mysore culture and tradition. He came from the grand veena tradition of Seshanna, who was synonymous with the veena itself. As a little child, Swaramurthy spent more time with this grandfather than his mother, and hence, automatically imbibed the great music. It became such an integral part of the little boy’s life that he constantly had a kriti on his lip. Seshanna who recognised his grandson’s talent, pushed him to explore his music even as he threw challenges at him. In fact, this boy played less and spent more time in the company of music.
V.N. Rao’s son Mysore V. Subramanya recalls an incident that took place at the Gadwal king’s court. Swaramurthy had accompanied his grandfather Seshanna for the concert and his swara kalpana for the pallavi was remarkable, a creative outburst in fact. The king was surprised, and grandfather, overjoyed. After the concert, the king put the little boy on his lap, showered affection on him and even conferred the title Swaramurthy. Learning of this, the Mysore king, Nalvadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar insisted that the boy should play in his court. Hence, the young Swaramurthy’s first concert took place in the court of Mysore along with accompaniments. Needless to say the audience was mesmerised.
His grandfather’s persona had a strong bearing on Swaramurthy. Veene Seshanna believed in rigorous practise. All his waking hours was spent thinking and practising music, so much so that he hardly spoke. When Seshanna passed away in 1926, it was a huge blow to Swaramurthy. Music lessons were unaffordable for the family, and on learning this, Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar promised to keep Swaramurthy’s lessons going and indeed, he kept the promise.
After Seshanna’s demise, V.N.Rao trained to play the veena under the tutelage of Subbanna. Rao was a diligent student and grasped all that was taught to him. At that time, Subbanna was teaching many students at once. One day, after the Shiva Puja at the palace, Subbanna, along with his students, was walking back home. Suddenly, one of his students said, “Oh there’s Venkata Narayana. He hasn’t even noticed you. He seems to be in his own world singing and keeping the beat!” Deeply saddened by this comment, Subbanna replied that instead of playing the fool, even they must aspire to be like Venkata Narayana because his talent in music was exceptional. This revealed how impressed Subbanna was by Venkata Narayana’s musical abilities.
Nominated as the court musician at the tender age of 11, Venkata Narayana would play at the palace frequently. Almost no occasion, be it the Ganapati puja, the Navaratri Darbar or the Chamundeshwari Teppotsava, would be held without his veena recitals.
After learning under stalwarts such as Veena Sheshanna, Veena Subbanna and Dr. L. Muthiah, V.N.Rao found his place among the great musicians of Mysore. Synonymous with the music of Mysore, V.N. Rao played not only in concerts in Karnataka but also in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra and earned the title of ‘Mysoru Sangeetha Rayabhari’.
He set up the Veena Gana Mandira in Bangalore and taught the Mysore bani to many young artists here. He was also known for his role in institutions such as the Bengaluru Gayana Samaja, Karnataka Ganakala Parishath, Malleswaram Sangeetha Sabha, Sangeeth Natak Academy etc.
Swaramurthy was a connoisseur of food. He was also exceptional at games. Frank and outspoken, he upheld Mysore culture. As the President of the Ganakala Parishath, he received the ‘Ganakala Bhooshana’ award. He has also authored books on Veena Sheshanna and Subbanna. He passed away in a car accident in August 1980.
